Page 78 of Unconditional

I turn, my piccola still in my arms as I stride towards the house, only now just noticing who all is here. Christian. Elena. Evan. Valentina. Aria. Francois. And my parents. The relief I see on everyone’s faces matches my own. It’s palpable.

A couple minutes later, I’m pushing through the door to the house like I live here. I make my way to the family room and drop down on one of the couches, all the while never letting Thalia go. The whole gang shuffles inside. Christian sits beside me, shooting me a look of annoyance in the process. I ignore it. I don’t care about anyone but the girl in my arms.

Elena moves to my other side, with Evan and Aria dropping down in front of me. I can tell Evan wants to say something, no doubt about me hogging Thalia, but again, I couldn’t care less.

My piccola is mine.

And after what she’s been through, I will never let her out of my sight again.

“Sweetheart,” Christian starts cautiously as he takes Thalia’s hand. I know what he’s going to say. “Are you hurt? Do I need to call a doctor?” I don’t miss the way his voice breaks. This is killing him.

My piccola takes a deep breath. “Where is Greg? Is he hurt?” My heart bursts with so much love. Thalia is always more concerned about everyone else before herself. It’s one of the things I love about her. She’s so selfless. Her gaze moves to her best friend. She gasps at his cuts and bruises. “Oh my God, Franny. Are you okay?” she tries to push off my lap, but I hold her tighter.

He smiles. “I’m okay now that you’re home, baby girl,” Francois rasps, emotion heavy in his voice. I know everyone is struggling right now but it doesn’t give him a pass to call her that. I shoot him a scowl. He grins before looking back tomypiccola.

“Greg?” she presses.

Christian answers. “Sweetheart, he’ll be fine. He’s in the hospital with a severe concussion, but the doctors tell me it’s nothing to be concerned about. He should be released tomorrow. Now tell me, areyouokay?”

Thalia lets out a relieved breath before speaking. “Yes. They didn’t hurt me, at all.” She enunciates, letting us all know without saying the words that she wasn’t assaulted. “Although it was a scary experience that I never want to go through again, they looked after me as well as can be expected under the circumstances.” She laughs as if she can’t quite believe what she’s saying. Her face tips down, her gaze moving to her sister before coming back to her father. “Bishop saved me.” I hear a breath catch and I know I don’t have to look to know it’s Aria.

“What? What does Bishop have to do with this?” Christian’s voice vibrates with... anger?

My piccola looks at her father. “I don’t know. But he saved me. They wanted him. I don’t know why, but he gave himself up for me,” she finishes with a cough.

“Can someone get her some water,” I bark. At who, I’m not sure but it’s my mama that rushes from the room.

Thalia places a hand on my chest and my eyes move down, locking on hers. She’s trying to soothe me. Silently letting me know she’s okay.

“Are you sure that you’re okay, bambina?” Elena coos from my left-hand side.

Thalia looks to her, her eyes soft and full of love for her mama. She nods. “Apart from a little hunger, dehydration, and needing a good shower. I’m okay, mama.” My chest tightens. My piccola is the strongest person I know. There are not many nineteen-year-old girls that could go through what she has just been through and say they’re okay. I press my lips to her head, not caring that we have an audience. If it offends anyone, they can leave the room. Thalia blushes as she burrows further into my chest.

“Baby sister, are you sure that you’re, okay?” Evan asks, his face full of concern.

Thalia reaches out, taking his hand. “I’m fine, Evan. Promise.” He sighs in relief and squeezes his eyes closed. My eyes move to Aria, who is on her knees, silent as a mouse. Her face looks haunted and if I had to take a guess, I would say it’s a combination of Thalia being taken and the information she just received about Bishop.

As if realizing she needs to say something, she leans forward and kisses my piccola’s cheek. “I’m glad you’re back. I don’t know what I would do without you. I flove you,” she chokes out. Thalia grabs her sister in her arms, and I hear a whisper. When they pull back, Thalia nods almost imperceptibly. If I wasn’t watching my girl so intensely, I would have missed it.

I wonder what that’s all about?

“Water,” my mama says softly, handing me the bottle. I take it with a smile and mouth a thank you.

“Thank you, Giana,” my baby says shyly.

Mama shakes her head and takes Thalia’s hand. “No need for thanks. I’m just glad you’re home safe.”

My piccola takes the bottle from me and sips it slowly. Everyone watches her. I don’t know if they’re waiting for a meltdown or something, but it doesn’t happen. Screwing the top on once she has finished, she glances around the room at everyone then sighs.

“I’m okay. I promise. I want to forget about this, and I don’t want you all treating me like I’m glass. Now, I need to take a shower and then eat,” she states firmly. I’m so proud of my piccola. Her strength is admirable.

Elena jumps off the couch. “I will order food from that place down the road. Go and get cleaned up, bambina.” I could hug her for trying to bring some normalcy back. It’s what Thalia wants and, although it’s been traumatic for us all, we need to respect my girls wishes.

My piccola climbs out of my lap and this time I let her. I push off after her, only stopping when my arm is grabbed. I glance down to find Christian gripping me. “I may be accepting of the two of you, but I draw the line at you going with her to shower.”

I pull out of his grip and scowl. “I’m not letting her out of my sight,” I state.

Evan jumps up. “You,” he points his finger at me. “Stay here. You are not pawing at my baby sister whilst her family is in the same house.”

I scoff, ready to tell him that he’s insane if he thinks I will touch my girl after what she has been through when Thalia speaks up, stopping me. “Stop,” she snaps, looking to her brother. “I get that you aren’t happy about us, but I love Theo and he’s going to be in my life forever. You need to get used to it big brother.” She turns to me. “And you can stay here. No one is going to kidnap me in the shower. And anyway, Aria is coming up with me.” She drops a kiss to my lips, then turns and leaves the room along with her sister.

I watch after her, that magnetic pull between us begging me to follow. Before I do just that, I drop back down on the couch with a huff.

“She told you,” Evan snickers making my eyes snap to him. He smirks.

I smirk back. “Just like she told you,brother.” His eyes widen. Yeah, the fucker knows what I’m getting at. One day he will be my brother. I’m putting a ring on my piccola’s finger and there is nothing that asshole or anyone else for that matter can do or say to stop me.

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